The Coming Dawn
by Fyrie
Summary: Edited for new rules: Dawn does something she shouldn't & sees something she wishes she hadn't.


With a warning wag of his finger, Giles' stern caution of "Don't touch anything without me." registered in the young teen's ears, locking it away in the memory bank of all the other "Don't do's" he had given her. 

Unfortunately, her ears and hands had never really got on very well.

So, when her fingers ran over the rippled surface of a small, locked chest, her ears screamed in protest. Dawn ignored them, carefully twisted the tiny key, the soft click deafening in the deserted shop.

The decorated lid sprang open against her hand, revealing scarlet velvet carefully lining the innards of the box; an oval-shaped turquoise crystal nestled in the smooth folds of the material.

"Pretty..." Running her fingers over the gem, it shimmered, a blue glow spreading from it. "Huh?" Glancing around, seeing no sign of Giles, the girl frowned, picking up the palm-sized piece of crystal.

A heat radiated from the crystal, her hand tingling. "Ow!" Shaking her hand, she tried to dislodge it, but the gem seemed to have stuck to her. Poking it, she grimaced, her skin glowing as she unsuccessfully tried to dislodge the stone.

Then she noticed something in the gleaming surface.

A face.

Her face.

Her much older face.

*

"Don't fuck with me, you bloody bitch. You don't know what you're dealing with."

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Dawn stared furiously up at the sleazy, dark-haired man standing over her, scrubbing the stream of red with her hand. "Go to Hell." She hissed painfully. "I know who you are. You think I'm afraid of you?"

His hand wrapped into her hair, jerking her head back, baring her throat. "Give me what I want, or you know I'll kill you." A narrow blade materialized in his other hand, running chillingly across her throat. "Cut you limb, from bleedin' limb."

Half-kneeling, half-sprawled on the ground, the Slayer's younger sister tightened her jaw, said nothing. Shifting her weight, she blinked stupidly at him, felt his fingers contract around her throat.

Jerking her knee up, she heard the satisfying crick as his nose smashed, his yell stifled by the follow-through, shards of his skull driven into his brain. And since he slumped over her, motionless, it meant he must have had some grey matter in the first place. How amusing. 

It was funny that they always underestimated her. She wasn't just a Slayer's little sister. A bundle of immortal energy did have that little bit of hidden strength too. One day, she'd remember how to laugh.

Getting to her feet, she smoothed her bloodied, ragged clothes down, pushing the corpse into the shadows and making her way towards the illuminated streets, a barely noticeable limp in her left leg.

"Dawn..." A familiar voice spoke her name. She froze...

*

"Dawn, what are you doing?"

Spinning, thrusting her hands behind her back, Dawn flashed an innocent grin at the two Wicca. "Um...nothing!" Pushing her hand into her pocket, she edged out from behind the counter. "I...I think I'm going to go home. Sleepy. Yawn."

"Did Giles say what he wanted us to come down for?"

The brunette shrugged, waved them in the direction of Buffy's training room. "He's in there, with Buffy. He said something about an inventory..." She gave them both a pleading look. "Is it okay if I go home now? Please?"

"You shouldn't walk home alone..." 

"But I'm bored. I want to go home and watch TV or something. There's nothing to do here and everyone else wants to watch Buffy training." Crossing her arms over her chest, she assumed her best pout.

The two Wicca exchanged tired grins. "I'll walk you home, o-okay, Dawn?" Tara gestured to the door. "Get your books and things."

The teen whooped happily and clambered back over the counter, carefully shoving the box she had opened out of the way. Willow squeezed Tara's fingers gently. "You be careful." She murmured. "I don't want you getting hurt."

Tara nodded, reaching over to press a kiss to her lover's mouth. "I'll put us under a protection spell." She promised, gazing longingly into the red head's eyes. "Don't worry about us."

Dawn was hardly aware of the blonde wicca as they made their way towards the Summers house, her attention more intently directed towards the warm gem that she held in her hand. Was that really her?

"Here we are."

Brushing passed Tara, the brunette muttered a thank you, slung her rucksack high on her back and trotted up the stairs. "I'm going to do my homework." She lied cheerfully, pushing the door shut with her foot and turning the key with her free hand.

Withdrawing her other hand from her pocket, she slowly opened it and stared back into the crystal. The figure had frozen at the very image she had been forced to look away from, but now, it started moving again.

Sinking down on her bed, Dawn watched with uneasy interest as the figure pivoted and looked at the figure standing behind her.

*

"What the hell are you doing here?"

He smiled. "Is that any way to greet me?" he asked, taking a step towards her, one hand rising to touch her bruised cheek. "I have to look out for you, you know, Dawn. It's dangerous for you to be out here."

Pushing his hand away, she took an impatient step back. "And what about her?" Her voice was cold, clipped. "You say it's dangerous, so why aren't you with her, like you said you would be?"

"She's fine." He drew closer again, lifting her callused hands in his. "Nothing's going to happen to her."

Staring down at their joined hands, Dawn gritted her teeth. "That's what you said last time. And the time before." She lifted her bruised face, pushing back her hair from the narrow cuts and blackening imprints of fingers impressed in the skin of her throat. "But they're getting closer. Too close." 

"Did he...?"

She shook her head, let him draw her against his broad chest. "He didn't get far enough to do anything, this time." She pressed her eyes shut as a L.A.P.D. squad car screamed passed, lights blazing.

"I thought we agreed you wouldn't go out without me."

Dawn raised her eyes, a trace of cynical mirth in them. "Why? Because I need you to protect me, big strong man that you are?" She pulled out of his embrace. "I can take care of myself, you know. I lived on these streets for nearly three years without you to baby me."

"That's not what I..."

Raising a hand, she sighed, silencing him. "I know." She stated quietly. "You don't want me hurt. You don't want her hurt. You don't want any of our...crew hurt. It's just..." She rubbed her hands up and down her arms tiredly. "It's getting so crazy. She's never been the same since..."

"The last time. I know." Laying his hands on her shoulders, one of the four most important people in her life gave her a reassuring squeeze. "She'll be fine, though. You know that. We'll take care of her."

Reluctantly letting him kiss her, she nodded. "Is Spike...?"

"He's watching her." As always, that tiny edge of envy rose in his voice. He didn't know the details of her connection with Spike, but it was enough to make him envy the bleached blonde British vampire. He glanced down the alley. "Who was it tonight?"

The brunette sighed, rubbing her bruised neck. "Watcher's Council special ops team." She said. "They want their Slayers and they're getting pretty damn desperate." She shook her head. "I don't understand why she's so special. Shouldn't they have someone else lined up in cases like this?"

"She's got a lot of power." Taking her hand in his larger one, her partner, glanced around again. "They don't want it being out of their control. Not again. Not after..." He paused, his eyes darkening briefly. 

"After...?" Maybe now, he would open up. Maybe he would finally tell her the truth she already knew about him. Then again, maybe not.

He shrugged. "They've had girls who haven't obeyed their every word." He replied evasively, pulling her along with him, his strides longer than hers. "They prefer to brainwash them into doing what they're told."

"How come you know so much about the Council?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer. He wasn't going to tell her, but it was worth asking anyway. "You know far too much for any normal man..."

"I...travelled a lot, before I came to America." His warm fingers held her tighter, his dark gaze moving down to her for a moment. "I learned a lot when I was moving around. Saw and heard a lot of things I shouldn't have."

Dawn wondered if she would have believed his careful lies, if she hadn't known him as much as he didn't remember her. His lies were always so strategically white, mentioning something, but without adding all the facts that would reveal the truth.

The truth he thought she couldn't know about.

Making their way through the darkening streets, she glanced up at him. She remembered him from before, but she guessed the monks hadn't done the mind whammy on anyone who wouldn't immediately need to be affected. All she had been to him was a street kid who needed help, a street kid who had been astonished to realise who he was.

"C'mon." Steering her through the splintered boarding that blocked the entrance to the underground, he helped her catch her footing, clearly having lost none of the grace he always possessed, as far back as she could remember.

The passages were damp and dark, but now – she was always surprised to realise – they were home. No longer just sewers.

Tapping on the door softly, both of them glanced around warily. Certain that no one was lurking in the shadows, they slunk through the tight opening, into the snug den that they had come to call home.

Stepping out of his hiding place as they entered, the blonde vampire was by the brunette's side in an instant, tipping her chin up to examine her injuries. "Bloody hell..." Brushing his hair back, he grimaced and shook his head. "You're going to get yourself killed one of these days, niblet."

"I tried telling her that." Her companion sighed, pulling the bandana off his head. "But you know what she's like. Never listens to a word anyone says." He bent to press a fond kiss to her temple, his expression tight with rage at her injuries.

"Will you stop treating me like a child? I'm almost twenty five, for Christ's sake!"

"Yes, mommy."

Glancing around the two men, Dawn smiled tiredly. "Hey, Faith. You okay?"

"Five by five." The other brunette girl nodded, lifting her hands. A roughly-knitted piece of fabric hung from two thin stakes. "I'm knitting a new blanket." She said proudly, clearly as tired as the rest. "Did you kick some council ass for me?" She inclined her bandaged foot. "I wanna help again."

"As always." She and the dark Slayer exchanged smiles. "Honey," She glanced up at her taller companion. "I'm going to get some sleep. Keep me company?"

He nodded, bending and lifting her in his arms. She was light as a feather, unusually thin, thanks to their lack of food. "Night, you two." He said, carrying her out of the main room, into the small bed chamber.

Laying her tenderly on the rickety, little couch, he stroked her dark hair back from her bruised face. She reached up to draw him mouth down on hers, wincing, but deepening the kiss in spite of the pain. "Love me..."

"Always."

Silence descended on the softly lit room, as he met her lips again, his hand sliding the rough shirt from her shoulders and down her arms. Running her fingers down his chest, she peeled his T-shirt off between hungry kisses.

Kissing his way down her throat, his fingers dispatched her tattered trousers, his own swiftly joining the growing heap of material on the floor. There was nothing tender in their lovemaking, all the harsh reality of their situation making it as frenzied and desperate as their lives were.

At a time like this, in a world like this, they had to make good what time they had. Sealing his mouth over hers again, they came together, her body arching against his with a keening cry of pleasure, her nails raking into his back.

Plus, the danger was always a turn-on too, whether they admitted it or not.

Her rhythmic gasps matched his motion, his speed building up, his lips occasionally seeking hers for a hungry kiss, then returning to the soft point of her neck. She knew she was going to have one hell of a hickey in the morning.

"Oh God..." Moaning softly, she felt him nipping at her skin, felt a rash of goosebumps rise on her skin, a tingle of pleasure running the length of her spine. His mouth moved to her earlobe, his breath warm, his chest slick against hers.

"Say my name, Dawn..." He murmured, snapping at her earlobe. "Say my name...let them hear..."

Drawing a strained breath, she pulled his lips to hers for a punishing kiss. "A... Angel..." She gasped, arching up against his broad chest. "Angel..." He pushed a little deeper, her voice rising in pitch and volume. "Angel, Angel, Angel...love you...love you, Angel..."

*

Squinting at the blurring images in the crystal, Dawn frowned. It had been okay when she saw Spike in there with Faith, but when Angel had carried the older her to a different room, it was too dark for her to see anything.

And the crystal had stopped working for the night, which was kinda annoying. She wanted to see what was going on. Shrugging, she pulled it from her hand and laid it on the desk beside her bed.

She could always watch more in the morning.

*

"What's the buzz, people? Any more attempts by our should-be-slayer-kidnappers?" Her hair pulled up into a scruffy ponytail, Dawn glanced around at her friend's faces. "And something tells me the bad is getting badder...spill it."

Spike picked at his nails. "Our old pals, Wolfram and Hart, haven't given up yet, ducks." He said. "They're up to something, but we can't get any information on what. Whatever it is, they're playing it close to their chest."

"No surprise there, huh?" The brunette Slayer leaned over and gave the blonde's knee a fond squeeze. "Any info's a plus, right?"

"Of course." Angel nodded, leaning forward pensively on his knees, his chin cupped in his hands. "But with Wolfram and Hart, it's impossible to guess what they're going to pull." He shuddered. "They were bad enough before the whole shan...um...situation in 2003."

Dawn moved to the coffee jug, pouring some of the bitter, black fluid into a tumbler and sipping it with a grimace. "At least it's not those Watcher assholes again. I'm really getting sick of those guys and their accents...what's with that? Are they trying to sound Big Bad and failing or it just me?"

"Thanks for the compliment, pet." Spike grumbled, unwinding the long strip of bandage from his hand and examining the burnt skin. "I'd rather insult their holy water and crosses than their bloody awful accents."

Faith moved to sit next to the blonde. "Lemme see." She demanded, taking his hand carefully between her own. On request, Angel handed her a cloth and bowl of water. "You gotta take more care, blondie. One of these days, they might hit somethin' important, like your..." A tiny smirk pulled her lips up. "Hair."

"Ha-bloody-ha." Pulling a cigarette out of his pocket with his other hand, he clumsily lit it. "Why don't you pick on someone who can bash you back and leave the helpless vampire alone?"

Leaning closer, her fingers still gently sponging his hand, she murmured. "You know you wouldn't wanna be left alone, blondie. Especially not by me." She nipped his ear with her teeth and whispered something inaudible.

"Luv, don't try and do the suggestive thing with me." He raised mock-innocent blue eyes to her, as Dawn settled on the ragged couch next to Angel, still sipping the black sludge. "I don't get embarrassed about anything..."

Whispering something else in his ear, the brunette Slayer drew back with a devious grin. "Is that a spike in your pants, or are you just pleased to see me?"

Whatever she said did its job, a pink tinge flushing the vampire's pale countenance. "Luv," He gave her a pleading look, a threat of a pout on his lips. "I thought we said we wouldn't mention that outside the bedroom..."

"You said, lover." She kissed him lightly. "I didn't say anything." Turning her attention back to Dawn, she forced a grin. "So, boss, what's the game plan? We gonna attack them on their home turf or wait until they come for us?"

Her fingers wrapped around the coffee mug, Dawn pursed her lips in thought. "I don't want any unnecessary risks being taken. I think we should stay put until we find out more about what they're up to. Maybe send out a scout once a day, to see what we can get..."

"That's my little genius." Angel lifted her fingers to his lips with a small smile. "You would have loved Willow..." He faltered off, seeming to regret saying a name.

"Willow?" Spike gave the girl a curious look. Dawn shot a glare at the vampire, then turned her attention back to the dark-haired man at her side. "Who's she, Angel?"

"A...friend." Unwilling to say more, he pushed himself to his feet. "I'll do the first scout party, okay? I'll be back as soon as I find anything."

Watching the former vampire leave, Dawn sighed. "I guess I better go and do my..."

*

"...homework." She gestured to the spread of books on the desk with her free hand. "And I don't want to go to the Magick Shoppe today, anyway. It smells funny in there, since Giles got the new herby things."

Buffy eyed her sister skeptically. "I'm still missing why you got up at seven o'clock on a Saturday morning to do your homework. Normally we had to pull you out of bed by your ankles and now, you're getting up early?"

Trying to ignore the tingling, burning sensation of the crystal in her palm, Dawn pouted. "You tell me I spend too much time in bed and that I'm lazy and then, when I do get up early, you think there's something wrong we me. I can't do anything right!"

Stomping over to her bed, she threw herself down on it, her chin resting on her crossed arms, her eyes fixed on the pillow. "Dawn..."

"You think I should still be in bed, fine!" Pulling the sheets over her head, she kicked her feet and continued to mumble. "See. I'm still in bed. Snore, snore."

The Slayer exhaled a low sigh. "Dawn, listen. Spike's downstairs, in case anything happens and I've got to go and see Giles." The only response she got was a kick of her sister's feet beneath the tangle of sheets. "I'll see you later."

The second the blonde's footsteps faded on the stairs and she heard the front door close, Dawn threw the sheets aside, sitting up and quickly opening her hands to look back into the crystal, to see what was happening.

The images seemed to be moving forward as if they were on fast forward, moving faster than she could follow. "Wait...slow down! I can't see!" She shook her hand, clenched her fingers around it and waited.

Opening her fingers again, the action seemed to have slowed down, but for future-Dawn's frenetic movements, pacing back and forth anxiously.

*

"He should have been back already!"

Spike glanced at Faith, then back at the girl he had 'known' longer than the Slayer. "I'm sure he's fine, luv." He tried to search for some way to reassure the pacing woman. "He's probably holed up somewhere until its safe to come back."

Dawn shook her head. "No." She insisted. "He wouldn't stay away for this long. He wouldn't. A few hours, yeah, maybe, but not two days. Not Angel. He was always so damn reliable, always wanted to protect the people he...cared about."

"That's true. When you wanted to be on your own, he was always hoverin' nearby." A low cry from the next room caught their attention. Rising, the dark Slayer gestured Dawn back. "I'll look after her."

Half-smiling gratefully, Dawn flopped down on the couch next to the peroxide vampire who was the only one of her friends party to her past. He pulled her into a hug, letting her rest against his chest. 

"You okay, pet?" He murmured against the top of her head.

She nodded. "I just want it to be over." She whispered, uncalled for tears brimming in her eyes. "Why can't they leave us alone? They always try and destroy my family. I just want to have a normal life."

"I hate to point this out, Niblet," He said, his hand moving lightly on her hair. "But your life has never been anything but un-normal. I mean, look at your past. You're what? Just eleven years old, technically. Your sister was a Slayer, her friends were witches, werewolves and former demons. Now, look at you. In hiding in the City of Angels with a chipped vampire, a former vampire and a fugitive Slayer."

Slapping him lightly on the chest, she exhaled a tired breath. "I told you not to say anything about...before." She said. "I left that behind. As far as they know, I don't know any of you. I don't have a past. Whatever I was died a decade ago."

"Why don't you tell them, eh? It would make things a lot easier for me. You know how bad I am at being sneaky and devious." He feigned a sigh of despair. "I'm so out of practise."

She sat up and gazed at him. "Our favourite ex-vampire hasn't told me what he was. Why should I tell him anything when he's afraid I'll freak? How do you think he'd react if he found I was his first true love's baby sister, but only after some monks made me out of some weird energy stuff?"

"Um...I think I see your point." The blonde raised his eyes as his Slayer-lover reentered the room and joined them on the couch. "She settled, luv?"

The brunette Slayer lifted a bruised hand. "She's getting stronger again." Flexing her fingers, Faith chuckled. "I'm glad I'm not going to have to fight her again."

"You didn't have to last time." Dawn reminded her distractedly, getting to her feet. "I'm going out. I'm going to find him. He's been away far too long. He might need help."

"Luv, that might not be a good idea."

She shrugged. "I don't care if its a good idea or not." She said coolly. "The Council's special ops are out there. So are Wolfram and Hart. If you think I'm going to leave my lover to get beaten or killed, you are very wrong."

"But you're not that strong and we can't all go with you." Faith put in. "My ankle is still weak and someone has to be here, to watch her, in case the council guys make it in here. We don't want 'em to get Goldielocks, do we?"

Hefting the weapon's chest out from under the table, Dawn hoisted a crossbow onto her back, slipping the belted quiver around her waist. "I can manage on my own." She said, lifting one of the wrist-cuffs with a stake attached and sliding it around her thin wrist. "I know what I'm doing, but Angel might not. He's not as strong as he was."

"What if something happens to you?"

Flashing a tired smile at the blonde vampire and brunette Slayer, she replied. "I'm sure you could look after her for me. We're all one fucked-up, big, semi-happy family, right?" A blade was slid into the sheath strapped to her thigh, a stake hooked through her belt. Holy Water pellets hung in a pouch at her waist. "And don't worry about me. I'll be back and bad soon enough. I've lasted this long, right?"

"Good point, Nibbles." Lifting his switchblade out of his pocket, he tossed it to the slim brunette and grinned. "Do some damage for me while you're out and about." She pocketed it and he winked. "There's something about a woman carrying my weapon..."

"Perv." Faith playfully slapped him on the chest, receiving a pounce and a ravishing kiss from the bleach blonde.

"And on that pleasant note, I'm outta here." Armed to the ears, Dawn melted out of the door, into the shadowy passages that lead to the streets, the very streets where her ancient lover had disappeared a day and a half earlier.

The streets that should have been light were still smothered in a blanket of shadow, the sun never making it into the depths of the valleys between the tall buildings. Glancing around, Dawn slid out of the tight opening and dropped lightly to her feet.

A knife slid into her hand, the handle pressed to the heel of her hand, the cool metal of the blade resting against her forefinger. Someone was there. Intuition, experience, nervous tingling and an arm around her throat all told her the same thing.

If there was something she hated, it was the whole arm-around-the-neck thing.

"Where is she, bitch?"

Feigning a whimper, Dawn struggled, but not enough to break free. "I...I don't know what you're talking about!"

"You were the sister." The voice growled dangerously. It still amazed her that people with voices as pompous as Wesley and Giles' had been could sound threatening at all. "Tell me where she is or you'll regret it."

Twisting the blade in her to rest against the heel of her hand, she curled her fingers around the handle, grimacing as the fingers tightened on her neck. "Wh-what are you going to do to me, sir?" She whimpered, her eyes dark.

"Well, since you're such a pretty little thing..." He brushed her hair back from her throat and whispered in her ear. "I thought I'd show you some tricks that demon bastard never got round to showing you."

"I've got a trick for you, you horny bastard." Barely more than a growl, her hand slammed upwards, the blade plunging into the soft flesh of his groin, a spurt of hot blood cascading over her fingers and dripping down her wrist.

The man gave a shrill squeal, tottering back a few paces. His hand clasped over his crotch, blood gushing between his fingers. "You bitch!" He howled, on the verge of bursting into floods of tears. "You fucking bitch!"

"That's me." Dawn said coldly, wiping the blade on her trousers, then fading into the shadows, leaving the man to slump down in a puddle of his own blood, a burst of vomit running from his lips at the pain.

*

Kneeling over the toilet, Dawn wiped her mouth with a piece of toilet paper. Yeah, she had seen people getting killed in the movies, but she didn't like seeing blood. It always made her feel sick.

Pressing her face against the cool wall, she closed her eyes and swallowed hard, wondering if she had the stomach to watch more of what the crystal had to show her.

Her fingers seemed to open of their own accord. Of course she could stomach it. She was a teenager. She had to know what happened. It would drive her crazy, if she didn't find out whether she found Angel or not...

*

Limping back into the tunnels, Dawn wiped a smear of blood from her face. She had been on the streets for hours and there had been no sign of her lover. Even beating up a couple of demons hadn't helped her feel better.

Something was very seriously wrong.

Carefully sliding another bolt into the crossbow, replacing the projectile stake at her wrist with a wooden bolt and adjusting the spring system, she pushed passed the dark, rain-dampened paneling, the scent of blood hitting her immediately.

A wave of nausea passed through her, but she made herself go on, clambering through the opening which lead into her home, stopping short with a choked gasp of horror. 

Faith half-lay against the couch, blood running from stab wounds in her gut and neck. Her fingers were shakily touching a pile of dust beside her, a tiny chip of metal glinting in the centre of the heap. The Slayer's dark eyes were brimming with tears, her mouth moving silently to form the word. "Spike..."

"F-Faith?"

Lifting her head, the Slayer stared at Dawn. "Kid...run..."

Moving to the Slayer's side, Dawn shook her head, putting her arms around the older girl and cradling her gently. "Faith...you have to be okay. What happened here? Who did this to you? Who did this?"

Faith's eyes flicked to the remains of her lover, tears running down her blood-masked face, her voice a trembling sob. "They...he came back...we tried to fight...too strong..." She whispered painfully, a trickle of blood running down her chin. "He...he killed Spike...made me watch..."

"Who did?" Faith shook her head numbly, her body wracked with painful sobs. "Faith, you have to tell me who it was."

Grabbing Dawn's hand, she shook her head. "Get outta here, Dawn...get out now..." She hissed, her despairing dark eyes meeting the younger woman's. "Don't die...not now...go now...run away...live..."

"Faith, please, who was..." The Slayer's body shivered, her eyes rolling up in her head, her body slumping heavily in Dawn's arms. "Faith? C'mon Faith, you don't die. That's not how it works...you stay, we kick its ass..." The last whisper of breath trickled passed the Slayer' slack lips. "Faith?" Barely a whisper, Dawn touched the Slayer's cheek. "Oh, God...Faith..."

Hot tears sprang to her eyes. Two of her best friends were dead. Because of her. When she had said she was a lightening rod, she knew she was right. Everyone around her always got hurt. Hugging the girl's body, she let the tears fall for a long moment.

Slowly, gently laying Faith's body down on the dusty floor, she bent and pressed a kiss to the still brow, her hand shakily closing the lids over those blank, brown eyes. She crossed the slim hands over the Slayer's breasts and stroked her cheek. "Look after Spike for me, Faith. Don't let him get lonely. And say hi to Buffy and the guys...tell them....tell them, I miss them."

Lifting the soft blanket from the couch, she draped it over the Slayer's motionless body and the remains of the Slayer's only true love. Brushing tears from her bruised and bloodied face, she stood up slowly. 

"I'll see you later." She whispered.

Turning in the direction of the bedrooms, she knew what she had to do. It was time to get the person that everyone was looking for and flee. It was time to find somewhere safer, even if meant without...

"Angel?"

Standing in the centre of the room, her lover lifted his head from the bundle in his arms. "Oh! Dawnie! I didn't know you were back." 

"Angel...Spike and Faith...they're dead...we have to go...get out of here before they come for her...before they come for us..." She moved towards him, reaching out for the object in his arms, her eyes red with unshed tears.

"Actually, lover," He stepped back. "I don't think so." She froze. No. It couldn't be. Could it? "I came back to tell you I've met someone else...she showed me what it's like, how good it feels to get back into old habits..."

A petite blonde emerged from the shadows.

Dawn recoiled with a hiss. "Darla!"

"Funny." Angel crooked a brow. "I don't remember telling you her name." He bent and pulled the blonde's lips to his. "Darla, meet my little Dawnie. Looks like your reputation precedes you."

The vampiress eyed the girl with clear interest. "She's a pretty one, darling boy." She murmured sweetly. "I can see the appeal in the bruises and blood. How on earth did you find one like her, so tough, in this place?"

"Wandering the streets, would you believe?" 

"A-Angel?"

The dark-haired man lifted his face to her, his features shifting. "The name's Angelus." He said coolly, shifting the burden in his arms. "Hold her for me, Darla. I don't want her to miss a moment of this..."

"Wh-what are you going to do?"

The blonde moved towards the apparently frozen girl, smirking. "He's going to eat the product of your love." She murmured, running her hands up the girl's arms. "Not only is the child the product of a former vampire's seed and has had less than a year of misery to taint her blood, but she has the power of the Slayer's destiny in her veins. She'll be delicious."

Dawn's eyes met Darla's coldly. "Pity you won't live to see it." She growled, flicking her wrist. The bolt hit home, the blonde's blue eyes widening in surprise the instant before her body crumbled to dust. 

"Darla!" Angelus stared from his mysterious-former-love to the dust at her feet. "You'll regret that, you whore!"

"Maybe I will." Her crossbow snapped up, the bolt catching him hard in the shoulder and spinning him with the impact. The baby dropped from his arms, cushioned by the mass of blankets. A wail rose from the child. Dawn snatched her from the floor, holding her close, her eyes narrowing at the possessed body of her lover and her child's father. "Then again, maybe I won't."

Angelus staggered to his feet, snapping the bolt from his body. "I'm going to kill you. You were street scum, you are street scum and you're going to die street scum."

Another bolt leapt from the crossbow. "Wrong, baby." Her eyes cold as ice, Dawn stared at him, the bolt lodged deep in his eyeball. "I was the sister of a Slayer." A handful of Holy Water pellets scattered over his face, drawing a yowl of pain from him, blood streaming down his face. "I was the Key. I have more power than your thick as shit brains could understand."

Staggering back against the wall, he jerked the bolt from his eye, growling in pain. "Which means killing you will be all the better."

"And all the harder." A smoothly thrown dagger lodged itself in his crotch up to the hilt. "I was made of her. I have some of her strength. Maybe you knew her, big boy." Shifting her child against her, she smiled coldly. "About yay-high...blonde...went by the name of Buffy..."

Angelus' eye widened in confusion, despite the pain he was in. "Buffy didn't have any sisters, you fucking loon." He staggered towards her, grabbing her viciously by the upper arms, pushing her child from her arms and moving in for the killing bite.

"Not until you left, baby." She grabbed his hair and tried to pull his face away from her. "But she told me how she sent you to hell." She grimaced as his fangs plunged deep into the side of her throat. "Sister taught me a lot, dumb fuck..."

He fell back, staring at the stake in his chest in horror. "You bitch..."

"A living bitch." Falling to her knees as his body exploded in a cloud of dust, she lifted their baby up in her arms. Her other hand rose shakily to press to her throat to stem the flow of blood. "Sh, Kathy, sh..." Rocking back and forward slowly, her tears ran down her blood-smeared face, her golden-haired baby crying in her arms. "I'm here, little one...mommy's here..."

She didn't know how long she knelt in the ruins of her life, the bodies of her friends and her lover scattered around the dark room. All that mattered now was the precious little life that was resting in her scarred arms.

That was all she had left.

Shakily getting to her feet, she lay Katherine Summers down on the couch and bandaged her injuries swiftly. She couldn't stay there any longer, the memories and pain too much to live with now. The only choice was escape. Disappearing entirely.

Packing a few of her possessions into a rucksack, she tied her hair up under a bandana and lifted her sleeping daughter up in her arms. "Let's get out of here, Kath." She murmured to the baby, pausing at the door to glance back at the scattered remains of her life. "Let's go."

*

Tears running down her face, Dawn raced down the stairs and into the living room, almost colliding with Spike. The blonde vampire lifted his eyes to her, her distress apparent. "Li'l bit? What's the matter? Did Glory...?"

The girl threw a small crystal down on the table, buried her face in her hands. "Giles told me not to touch...but it was so pretty...and I looked at it...Buffy's going to die and Angel...me and him are going to have a baby when he becomes a human...and he's going to be a vampire again...he's going to try and kill me and he killed you and Faith..."

Glancing at the gem with a frown, he took the girl in his arms for the first time, stroking her long hair soothingly. He glanced at the jewel. "You looked into it, Dawn?" She nodded. "And you the great poofwad was a human in it?"

"He-he-he had a baby with me..." Dawn was clearly distraught. "A baby...she was going to be a Slayer...they tried to take her from us...tried to kill her...made him a vampire so he would kill her for them...she was powerful...really strong and he...he tried to kill us..."

"Calm down, Dawn...listen..." Grasping her chin, he made her look at him. "Listen, Dawn...how the hell would Angel be a human? He's a vampire. They don't just become human, do they?"

She sniffled. "N-no."

"You see." He chucked her under the chin. "It wasn't real. Buffy isn't going to die and Angel's not going to try and kill you." She nodded, rubbing her nose with her fist and sniffing hard. "Now, you know why Wrinkles doesn't like you playing with the mojo gizmos. You get upset by it."

She accepted the shabby tissue he offered and blew her nose. "I won't touch it again." She whispered. "I promise. It was horrible."

"Good girl." Giving her a reassuring hug, he watched indulgently as she ran back to the door and waved back at him. He dropped down on the couch and stared at the gem. He's seen such a thing before. The poor kid.

Picking up the phone, he dialled the magick shoppe's number, tapping his fingers on the arm of the sofa. "Giles, mate. We have a problem. Dawn's been looking at one of the Menarusi prophesy crystals. It's bad."

He glanced up the stairs, his heart going out to the girl, her future one he would never wish on anyone. "Really bad."


End file.
